Drinking Buddies
by kc78
Summary: It has been one month since Tom left the Nathan James, Sasha is having a pity party for two with her broken heart until Mike decides to crash it. Sasha-Mike Friendship, set between S3 and S4 (Complete).


_Author's note: Last story for the day from me! Hope you all like my oddball version of how Sasha and Mike first commiserated their pain and became friends. Also sorry for hogging the top spots but it was for a fun cause._

* * *

 ** _Drinking Buddies_**

* * *

"Drink." Mike said as placed the shot glass in front of Sasha and ordered a pitcher of beer.

"Alcohol is not the answer." Sasha told him, she sat perched on a bar stool peeling the label off her bottle of beer; she just wanted to be alone in her pity party. The ship was still in dry dock and wouldn't be ready to set sail for another week. It had been a long three weeks being stateside for Sasha.

"Yet, you're here. In a bar." Mike pointed out, his tone said he thought the place was a shit hole. He wasn't wrong as it was a dive bar in every sense of the word. But Sasha wanted to grit and character. She also wanted to punish herself in a place where no man was stupid enough to hit on her. This bar was perfect. The only occupants were drunks to swallowed up in their own demons to notice her.

"It has character." Sasha told him, a cockroach decided to walk across the bar top in front of them; just as she spoke.

"I can see that." Mike remarked drily, the beer and glasses appeared before them, the pitcher landing on top of the cockroach. "Delightful." he remarked. Sasha couldn't help but smile a little as it was funny even with her broken heart.

"We're not talking about it." she informed him, she downed her shot enjoying the burn. He poured out two beers and gave a nod. She refused to talk about Tom and his abrupt exit from her life. He didn't just leave her and the crew. He disappeared off the map, no trace of him was to be found which infuriated and pained her at the same time.

"We're drinking to mission success." Mike told her, she gave him a sceptical look their success was a month ago. But she also couldn't be bothered arguing with the man as he did buy the drinks.

* * *

 _No food and too much alcohol later..._

* * *

"He had the nerve to kiss me and just walk away, no words, no phone call, nothing" Sasha slurred her words loudly and slipped off her stool haphazardly as she told Mike what happened in Tom's quarters before he left. "What a fucking asshole!" she exclaimed before she sat down again and leaned in close to Mike who nodded in agreement. "You know what's worst part? he never asked me what I wanted. No, because I'm just the girl he walks away from and never calls or sends a forwarding address to. My feelings are just... nothing. Now I'm the crazy chick hung up on the guy who is just not into her. Am I that crazy girl?" she asked him.

"No, you're not there yet." Mike assured her but Sasha wasn't listening as she was trapped in a drunken hate Tom frenzy of a rant.

"Did he not think about how I felt? How I put myself out there for him? I nearly got my head blown off for him, multiple times. That's commitment." Sasha told Mike, his eyes popped open wide as her volume increased considerably.

"Definitely." Mike said in agreement.

"Don't I deserve better treatment than this?" she asked him.

"We all do. I wouldn't have minded a 'Hey Mike, the kids and I are alive' message but he doesn't want to be tracked, so we're not finding him." Mike slurred, reminding Sasha that she wasn't the only one to be abandoned by Tom.

"I get that he had to leave, he couldn't stay but did he have to disappear like he did?" she asked him a low voice, Mike gave a sloppy roll of the eyes and hand gesture to say 'I don't know'.

"Probably not, but he needed to do what was best for him, he said you'd stick on the mission with us." Mike told her, he was sure Tom had many reasons. But he right now he was drawing a blank and craving pizza.

"I know, the jerk! I am my own woman. I make me-my own decisions, I should get to decide where I go not him. No man decides where I go except the President. Thank you very much." Sasha declared in a matter of fact tone.

"You preach sister!" Another drunk called out. She pointed at him and gave a thumbs up before turning back to Mike. Her joy at having a stranger agree with her didn't last as she looked to Mike. She just felt sad.

"So why didn't he stay?" Sasha asked him as she was moving into morose drunk stage. Mike looked at her with commiseration.

"Lost too much. We all burn out at some point." Mike said with a shrug as it was true.

"So, we get back up and we keep fighting. We don't walk away, he could have taken shore duty and waited for me to come home." Sasha grumbled as she drank some of her beer.

"Yeah, maybe but I wouldn't worry too much, he'll be back. He just needs time off." Mike said dismissively. Sasha frowned as she wasn't too sure that she agreed with him.

"Well, I am not waiting for him. Kiss or no kiss. Whatever, I'm moving on." Sasha declared, she turned her back to the bar and looked at the options. She zeroed in on someone but Mike caught her by the arm.

"Not to him." he told her, she pouted at him as he was impeding her effort to move on. "Friends don't let friends catch STDs." Mike informed her.

"We're friends?" Sasha asked feeling touched by his words but also drunk enough to need reassurances. Mike was Tom's friend, his loyalties were skewed given he'd let her rant about Tom and his poor behaviour.

"Yeah, now let's go get some pizza." he told her, he pulled out his wallet and paid the tab.

"Oh, Pizza, yes." Sasha murmured in agreement with an avid nod as she followed him.

* * *

 _1 small garlic pizza and 1 large BBQ meat lovers with pineapple and half of veggie supreme pizza consumed later..._

* * *

"So how did you find me?" Sasha asked as she had sobered up a little from the pizza soaking up the booze in her gut. She knew she would probably regret it tomorrow with a major hangover but for now; it was the best meal of her life. She had to admit she felt better for drunkenly venting her spleen about Tom and the lack of judgement from Mike. He seemed to be on the same page as her, upset by Tom's absence but understanding why he walked away for his own sanity. It didn't make it hurt any less, but they had common ground.

"I was a detective before the Navy." Mike said as he took a bite of his slice of pizza.

"Your wife doesn't mind you out with me?" she asked, noting the ring on his left hand.

"No, she'd have understood but not like I will have to worry about that anymore. She and the kids are gone. Red flu." Mike said, he cleared his throat uncomfortably as Sasha was the first person he'd told.

"I'm so sorry, I lost my husband while I was-" she gave a sigh and shook her head, "I'm just sorry." she said sympathetically.

"We've all lost someone in the fire. It's just best to keep moving forward and leave it at that." He told her pragmatically but she saw the grief in his features. She nodded in agreement as she like Mike didn't need to be held through the grief. They just needed people around them to help lessen the pain with their presence not their pity or good intention sympathy.

"So, where in the world are we going next?" She asked him, changing the topic.

"Who knows, wait for the orders." Mike told her, he looked at her from across the table. "You going to be ok?" he asked her in all seriousness.

"Yeah, I'm good." she told him, for the first time since Tom left, she did feel better. She wasn't jumping for joy but she wasn't chewing on her anger either. It was a definite improvement thanks to her new friend. Mike gave a curt nod and continued to eat as they lapsed into a companionable silence.

* * *

 _ **End**_


End file.
